Unscipted
by kiwanisgirl
Summary: When he walks into the cafe he expects to be greeted with her usual snark and bit, not this broken flower of a girl. What happened? What could have possibly changed over the course of a summer?


He pushed open the door and grinned – success. After two days and five cafes he had finally found the right one. Of course, it was the one closest to her home, but he didn't mind. In a twisted sort of way – it boosted his courage.

He moved to sit in the first empty booth he could find and sat down quickly. Scanning the café, he saw several couples sitting together in booths and he realized he was the only single one there. Yes, James Potter had always been single, despite any circulating rumours. Sure, he had been on plenty of dates over the years, but never with that one special woman.

James scanned the area again and sighed. Maybe she wasn't working today, or perhaps she had called in ill and was off snogging some prat – like Snivellus. His stomach tightened, what if she had been kidnapped by death eaters and no one knew she was gone?

"What can I get – James?" Lily gasped as she went to take her first order of the morning.

When Lily had woken up that morning, it had been forced. It seemed like every day was a forced one now. Each morning she argued with herself on whether or not she should get up to work or stay in bed and sleep. Today she had gotten up and headed to the café, not happily, mind you.

James jumped slightly when he heard her say his name and he looped up from the table.

"Lily, hi! I – um, I just wanted to try some of-" he glanced at the menu, "Brewed Awakening's famous coffee. Think you could help me out?" He smiled at her softly as she frowned slightly at his words.

"Yeah, okay, what kind of coffee would you like?" She slowly pulled her pad out and clicked the pen to take his order.

"How about you give me your favorite one?" He suggested, fiddling with a packet of sugar. Lily nodded hurried towards the kitchen.

As she pushed past the swinging door, Lily took a deep breath and felt her chin wobble. What was he doing here? Seeing him after a whole summer of living alone had made her head spin more than usual. She steadied herself against the wall and took in a few shaky breaths. She could do this – he just needed to go away and leave her alone.

Resolutely, she grabbed a mug and filled it, leaving the kitchen to slam it down on his table. If he thought she still hated him he'd leave, right?

"Enjoy."

"Thanks," he grabbed the handle and took a large, scalding gulp. Sputtering, James did his best to grin at Lily instead of grimaced. She looked so tired, he noticed, as she frowned at him, yet still so beautiful.

"You're welcome," she bit out; frustrated he had not left yet. "Will that be cash or credit?" Lily smirked – there was no way he would be able to pay for the coffee with _Muggle_ money.

James grabbed his wallet from his back pocket and placed a few bills on the table. "Cash please," he answered, incredibly proud of himself for having grabbed a handful of bills from his father's desk. "Keep what's left."

Lily was furious as she stalked towards the bathroom – why wouldn't he just leave her alone? She pushed into the bathroom and let it slam closed behind her. Gripping the sink with two hands, she could see tears fall into it. She no longer could feel them slide down her cheeks; it was such a normal occurrence.

She missed them so terribly… And then James showed up and made her remember everything. Every bit of anger, sadness, and happy memories. She didn't want to remember any of it – it made each day that much harder.

James started when he heard a door slam behind him, a door Lily went through a second before. Lily, the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen, looked so tired and weak as she took his order. Then all of the frowning and grimacing while she placed the coffee before him on the table…

He knew Lily Evans, and this was not normal Lily Evans behavior. It wasn't even open distain that she gave him today; it was a tragic sort of hostility that one usually saw in someone with too much hate. But, what could have happened to make Lily so… broken?

Their faces flashed before her – dead, tangled bodies on the floor. Blood was everywhere; a burned vision that would never go away.

Lily had come the summer after her sixth year – ready to catch up with her mum and dad, avoid Petunia, and try to prepare for her seventh year without being killed for being a Muggle born.

When she arrived at King's Cross and no one was there to pick her up, she had found the bus route that passed her house and decided to take it. She was not prepared for the image that she would fine when she pushed open the door.

The picture frames all hung crookedly on the wall, the one of her and Petunia as young girls was smashed on the floor. The kitchen light flickered on and off; the table and chairs were all upturned. Lily pulled her wand out and set her pack by the front door.

"Mum? Dad?" She stepped over the broken railing of the stairs and creped forward. Where were they? Her stomach churned as she recalled stories of Muggle parents being killed while their child was away at school. Linda Perkins, a kind Ravenclaw, left school over the hols and never came back – they say she lives in France with a cousin now.

The end of the hallway was suddenly right in front of her and she snuck her head around the corner of the wall –

Lily gasped as fresh sobs racked her body and she shuddered violently. Staring at the mirror an unfamiliar creature stared back. A creature that was sick and twisted with images of horrors. She was sick and twisted. It was all on her, every drop of blood was on her.

"Lily?" James whispered hoarsely, pushing the bathroom door open. Whatever he had been expecting to see, it was most certainly not this – his broken flower. Red, sagging eyes filled with sorrow, drooping eyelids that hadn't seen sleep in days. A worn out body that was screaming for release. "Lily?" He said once more shocked into place in the doorway.

Lily just stared back at him in the reflection of the mirror, just waiting for the pity, or the accusations, or both. Instead, he entered the small room and clicked the door shut behind him. He took a step forward and gently pulled her body against his own and just held on.

The pain was back and fresher than ever. There was mum; laying half on the couch and half on the floor, with her mouth wide open and her tea cup spilling onto the floor just out of her reach. Her father lay on the ground with his arms twisted in strange ways and blood seeping out of _somewhere_. Dead. Just dead.

James held Lily as she screamed silently and collapsed to the floor, cradling her head to his chest all the while. He said nothing as buried her nose against him and pounded her tiny fists into his shoulders. When she tried to rip away, he held her tightly, so tightly she began to wail and he feared he had hurt her.

But any pain she felt was from a nightmare. James could see it swimming in and out of focus behind her eyes.

After almost twenty minutes she suddenly went quiet and lay limp in his grasp. What now?

Before he could say anything, she began to speak in a low voice, finally telling a story she had kept hidden the entire summer.

"They were just lying there, with blood everywhere – spattered on the floor… the walls… the furniture. Mum had obviously been drinking tea when it happened," she whispered softly, picking at his collar with her fingers. "Dad must have gone to answer the door, thinking it was the milkman or the paper boy." Lily paused, staring at the green wall behind James' back. Taking a deep breath, she pulled closer to him and continued quietly. "They made him suffer, you can tell because of the handprints on the wall. They made him suffer and they killed her right away. All because of me, because I'm a filthy mudblood."

James jerked his head back so quickly; he smacked it hard against the wall. He grabbed her face roughly in his hands, "Don't you ever say that, Lily. Don't you even think about blaming yourself! Those sick bastards will pay, I fucking swear it," he growled, staring into her watery eyes.

Lily nodded wordlessly and gripped his collar, pulling his head closer to her own. They were kissing and the last of her tears were sliding down _his _cheeks. James felt his heart leap and then plunge as she kissed him hard.

He disentangled them, sighing, as she gaped at him silently. "Not like this, Lils," he whispered, kissing her forehead gently. "I want this, but right now you need sleep."

As James pulled them both to their feet and out into the café, he knew what he would be doing for the rest of his life – protecting Lily. And as Lily followed James out into the sun, she knew that the next few weeks might be just a little bit easier.


End file.
